Eichaed hemsley



(No Model.)

B. HEMSLEY.

DIAMOND TWEEZERS.

No. 327,394. Patented-Sept. 29, 1885.

ON W ix INVENQR BY ATTOREEYS,

N, PETERS. Pholfiulhognphor. VII-Hugh DJI- UNITED STATES PATENT ()EEIQE.

RICHARD HEMSLEY, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

DIAMOND-TWEEZERS.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 327,394, datedSeptember 29, 1885.

' Application filed November 7, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD HEMsLEY, of Montreal, in the Dominion ofCanada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDiamond-Tweezers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to an improved tweezers for diamonds andother precious stones by which they can be conveniently taken hold offor examination; and the invention consists of tweezers for diamonds andother precious stones composed of a handle and of converging sprin'gprongs that are provided With inwardly-bent tips or serrations at theirends that take hold of the edge of the stone. The spring-prongs arereleased from the stone by means of a sliding wedge-piece that engagesprojections at the inside of the prongs, as will be more fully describedhereinafter, and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure1 represents aside elevation of myimproved tweezers for diamonds and other precious stones. Fig. 2 is avertical central section showing the tweezers applied to a diamond; Fig.3, a side elevation of the tweezers spread apart and released from thestone. Fig. 4 is a detail end view of a forked spring-prong of thetweezers; Fig. 5, a modified form of the spring-prongs provided withserrations at their ends, and Fig. 6 a side view of a simplified form oftweezers.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre' sponding parts.

A in the drawings represents the handle, and B B spring-prongs,of myimproved tweezers for diamonds and other precious stones. Thespring-prongs B B are attached to the handle, and preferably made of onepiece of steel. They are bent so as to converge toward each other, theirends I) 2) being bent outwardly and provided with inwardly-bent tips orpoints 12 b.

In place of the tips at the ends of the springprongs serrations may beused, as shown in Fig. 5.

In applying the tweezers to a diamond or other stone the tips 12 b ofthe outwardly-bent ends I) b of the spring-prongs are moved along thebottom facets of the stone, and are spread apart until the tips passbelow the edge of the stone and grip the same, so thatit canbe readilyheld up toward the light for examination.

The tweezers may be made with two converging springprongs, which areslitted at the ends, as shown in Fig. 4, or with three or four prongs,as shown in Fig. 6.

The tweezers are applied to the diamond or other stone by simplypressing the ends down on the same until the tips take hold of thediamond, as shown in Fig. 2.

To release the springprongs from thediamond,awedge,O,isemployed,thatengages pro jections D,attached to theinside of the springprongs B or made integral therewith,the wedgepiecebeing provided with a suitable shank, D, that passes through the hollowhandle A and projects above the end of the same. By pressing on theupper end of the shank D the wedge is pressed down and causes thespreading apart of the springprongs and the release of the diamond. Onreleasing the pressure of the wedgeshank, the wedge is raised again bythe spring action of the prongs. Any other means for operating thewedge. may be employed, as I do not confine myself to the specialconstruction shown.

My improved tweezers in the simpler form shown in Fig. 6, may be used toadvantage as a holder for displaying diamonds and other stones, thoughthey are mainly intended to be used by jewelers for handling diamondsand other stones when setting them.

The tweezers can be made of any desired size, either small or large,according to the size of the stones to be handled.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. A'pair of tweezers for diamonds and other preciousstones, consisting of a handle and converging spring-prongs havingoutwardlybent and tipped ends, substantially as set forth.

2. A pair of tweezers for diamonds and other precious stones, consistingof a handle and converging springprongs having outwardlybent endsprovided with inwardly-bent tips or serrations, the spring-pron gs beingadapted to be spread apart so as togrip the stone, substantially as setforth.

8. A pair of tweezers consisting of a handle, converging spring-prongshaving outwardlybent ends with inwardly-bent tips or serrations, andmeans for spreading the springprongs apart for releasing the stone,substantially as set forth. 7 V v 4. A pair of tweezers consisting of ahandle, converging springprongs having outwardlybent ends provided withinwardly-bent tips,

and a wedge-piece engaging projections at the inside of the prongs so asto spread them apart for releasing them from the stone, substantially asset forth.

5. The combination, in a pair of tweezers, of a hollow handle,converging spring-prongs attached to the handle and provided With out-RICHARD HEMSLEY.

Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL, SIDNEY MANN.

